MarTech Edge Interview with Adam Malone, President & Co-Founder, Screenverse

Welcome, Adam! What was the initial inspiration that led to the creation of Screenverse?

My co-founder, David Weinfeld, came to me with a very compelling idea for a business. He was then working at Vistar Media - a leading programmatic exchange for digital OOH media - and was responsible for the supply-side of the business. He was working with dozens of digital OOH media owners, many of whom were doing well in the exchange, but they were not actively marketing, selling, and optimizing their inventory to drive revenues within the Vistar marketplace.

David asked the pivotal question that would become our mission statement: “What if every Digital OOH network had a dedicated team who would actively manage, market, sell, and optimize for programmatic sales? How much better would they do?”

The success of Screenverse is inextricably linked to the growth and success of our media owner partners, and we are working every day to answer our founding question!

What main challenges and opportunities do you face in the DOOH advertising market?

As core digital media faces challenges from changing consumer appetites around privacy, app-tracking, and sentiment around the tradeoffs in social media, the market is opening to us. DOOH networks offer contextual and relevant access to both mass and targeted audiences. Our mission is to enhance planning and measurement, positioning our media partners as the go-to alternative for digital advertisers aiming to engage audiences in the physical world.

As the President of Screenverse, which business factions do you oversee, and how do you facilitate unity among various stakeholders?

Lead our finance, marketing, and supply-side partnerships. Alignment is paramount. The cornerstone of our cohesion lies in our core values:

• Our customer’s success is our own.
• Promise only what we can deliver.
• The right thing is the right thing.
• Build for the long term.

Viewing opportunities and decisions through the prism of these values makes even the toughest decisions a lot easier.

I’m also very focused on developing a strong company culture. As a close-knit team of 21, accessibility is a priority. Beyond our regular team meetings, I offer weekly Office Hours, where I lead discussions and answer questions about high-level business strategy, specific challenges or opportunities in the business, and we also make room to discuss human topics such as parenthood, our inspirations, our insomnias, and many other things.

How do Screenverse’s DOOH solutions help brands connect with their customers anywhere they go? What are the main features that make them stand out? 

Firstly, every partner network we collaborate with brings a distinct value for brands aiming to engage audiences at pivotal moments in relevant places. At Screenverse, we present marketers with a constellation of touchpoints across these networks. Our strength lies in crafting integrated campaigns elevating brand prominence, as well as honing in on tactics near the point of purchase.

We have worked hard over the years to curate a network of venue-types and market coverage so that advertisers can engage their audiences in many places and points of time throughout the day. Top-of-funnel, mid-, and lower-funnel opportunities exist all throughout Screenverse, and we love working with brands who see DOOH as an extension of their digital engagement strategy.

How do you leverage technology and data to optimize and measure the performance of your campaigns?

In our niche, our distinction lies in being programmatic-first. Our essence revolves around harnessing systems and data effectively.

We employ top-tier programmatic SSPs for media planning, packaging, and optimization. Complementing this, our dedicated five-member engineering team has developed inventory management, reporting, and pricing optimization tools to ensure our peak performance.

Data is pivotal for us. Our initial business investment was in licensing a dataset from Placer.ai, enhancing our grasp of traffic patterns and the audiences within our retail media network.

From the outset, our conviction has been that advertisers should trust the data underscoring the quality and value of our service. Upholding rigorous data standards is integral to embodying our four core values.

What are some of the best and most creative campaigns you have executed for or witnessed on Screenverse? 

There’s a particular satisfaction when advertisers instantly “get it.” Case in point: our interaction with a top pharmaceutical firm aiming to market an allergy medicine transitioning from prescription to over-the-counter (OTC). Witnessing Pursuant Health’s dual display screens – one broadcast, one touch-screen – in over 4,600 Walmart pharmacies, the client was visibly astounded.

More than mere visibility, the brand could strategically reach its audience right on the cusp of purchasing. Plus, we had the agility to release ads regionally, syncing with the progressive onset of the “allergy season” from east to west.

After implementing a four-question survey – with inputs from over 11,000 Walmart visitors – the data highlighted a striking 31.7% surge in brand awareness and an 18% spike in purchase intent among exposed groups compared to controls.

The most rewarding campaigns? Those where clients not only discover fresh strategies to connect with audiences tangibly but also invest earnestly in crafting contextually rich ads, capitalizing on proximity to purchase points or other distinctive attributes. And, of course, when the outcomes surpass all anticipations!

What type of organizational culture do you promote within Screenverse, and how does it contribute to the company’s overall success? 

At our core, we see ourselves as a startup: agile, driven, collaborative, and immensely proud of what we are building. Our primary aspiration is fostering individual growth, knowing full well that when our team thrives, so does the business. Our culture is based on mutual respect, empathy, and support for one another. Whether celebrating small milestones or major achievements, every victory counts.

Operating as a remote-first enterprise has its challenges and demands strategic planning to maintain cohesion and enthusiasm. We had a full-team retreat and strategic planning week in Montego Bay, Jamaica, this year. We celebrated our accomplishments in 2022 and set the tone for continued expansion this year. We encourage regular in-person check-ins for each department and regional outings for folks living in NYC and Chicago, where we have a nexus of employees. We do virtual holiday parties and other team-building events remotely as well. 

Last year, we actually bought the whole team Meta Quest 2 VR goggles and hosted a company party in the metaverse. Many of our teams will regularly meet in the metaverse to play minigolf, bowl, or challenge each other to a game in beat-saber!

What is the next big thing that Screenverse is developing? How will it change the game for DOOH advertising?

We’re thrilled to launch one of the US’s most expansive digital billboard networks, thanks to our alliance with the top-tier billboard software provider Apparatix. For the very first time, over 1,000 independently owned digital billboards nationwide are at advertisers’ fingertips. With an independent audit underway by PerView, we’re on the brink of revolutionizing the advertiser experience — enabling a one-click, uniform-priced access to digital billboards and their vast audiences.

What are your dreams and plans for Screenverse in the long run? How do you intend to grow and evolve your business?

We’re on a mission to become the leading programmatic DOOH sales business in the US and beyond! Our laser focus is on honing our sales machinery, encompassing the growth of our people, fortifying our systems, refining our data, and strengthening our partnerships.

We’ll know we are on the right track if each of our partners grows to become the leader in their category of media. We want our retail networks to be in the top echelon, our residential network to extend its category lead, and our urban panel networks to saturate every market they are in. We’ll know we are successful when our partners are successful.

We believe in the power and value of digital-out-of-home media. It is the only media where you can’t turn us off with an ad blocker or a subscription. It’s also the only media I’m aware of that has a high favorability rating among consumers. It’s beautiful. It’s impactful. Digital OOH is just scratching the surface of its potential, and the same goes for Screenverse!